March 17, 2007

Subprime Mortgages

That things have gone wrong in the subprime mortgage business is no surprise. But as ever there's no mess that cannot be made worse by ill thought out government intervention.The Senate Banking Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to look
into the crisis in the subprime section of the U.S. mortgage market,
said Chairman Christopher Dodd.

Dodd announced the date of the hearing on Friday, a day after he said the committee would meet next week.

In a statement, the Connecticut Democrat said "predatory lending
practices" endangered home ownership for millions of people. "As
chairman, I will use all the powers and tools at my disposal to keep
families victimized by predatory loans in their homes and ensure that
America's dream of home ownership remains alive," said Dodd.

Dodd has a lot of Wall Street connections and the worry is that his solution will bail out the lenders, his buddies, at huge expense to the public purse. Remember the savings and loan crisis? This will almost certainly turn out to be more of the same.

Disney, Pixar and Stock Option Backdating

It looks like the backdating of options at Pixar is not as serious as thought:An investigation by Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
found that Pixar Animation Studios had backdated some employee stock
options before it was acquired by Disney, Chairman John Pepper said in
a statement on Friday.

Pepper said the probe found no one currently associated with the
company had engaged in deliberate misconduct, a statement that appeared
to clear Disney-Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter and Apple
Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Steve Jobs who sits on Disney's board.

The board decided that Disney should pay any additional taxes owed
by employees who hold backdated Pixar stock options, Pepper said,
adding that he expected no impact to financial statements as a result.

Pixar, founded by Jobs, had awarded stock options to Lasseter when
share prices were within a dollar of the annual low in 2000, according
to securities filings. Pixar was acquired by Disney last year.

However, look at that statement about paying taxes. You see, backdating options is not in fact illegal at all. But, if you do backdate them to make them in the money at the time of award, then taxes should be paid upon that amount that they are in the money. That's what the whole scandal has really been about and it does look as if Pixar was at fault there. Otherwise, why be paying more taxes?

Sao
Luis Mining, Inc. is well positioned to become a major supplier of
diamonds to the international diamond cutting centers and diamond
dealers worldwide. The prices for diamonds continue to rise. The demand
surpasses the supply and recent studies have shown that this shortage
will continue to grow. Due to civil unrest in many of the producing
African countries, international mining companies from around the world
are aggressively seeking the acquisition of producing properties in
Brazil. The initial phase of the Companyâ€™s business plan
strategy is the final acquisition of the 35% joint venture interest
with SL Mineradora LTDA in its Sao Luis River Basin diamond mining
operation, as well as securing the 65% option for an additional SL
Mineradora property. This will insure the position of Sao Luis Mining
becoming a dominant player in the region and allow the Company to
continue to focus on maximizing shareholder value. The properties
are part of a 30,000 hectare (74,000 acre) diamond mining portfolio
located in Juina, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The exploration rights are
presently held by SL Mineradora LTDA., the joint venture partner. The
Company plans to reinvest profits from revenues into additional
properties from the SL Mineradora portfolio.The Sao Luis River
Basin Project is located in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil,
approximately 30 kilometers from the town of Juina. The joint venture
property covers an area of 1889 hectares (4,666 acres) and has produced
hundreds of thousands of carats of diamonds since production commenced
in 2000. The Department of Natural Mineral Production (DNPM) has
documented that 119,334 carats of diamonds were produced from this
property in 2004 and 2005. The majority of the Companyâ€™s
investment in the joint venture will be used for additional mining
equipment and improvements to the mineâ€™s infrastructure. These
planned improvements to the mining operation should increase production
three fold within 6 months.The property has had extensive
geological surveys, the most recent being in 2005. The report stated
that the estimated resource of the area, involving only the first level
of sedimentary deposits, which includes gravels mineralized with
diamonds, totaled over 12,695,000 carats with an estimated wholesale
value of $320 million. These numbers represent only a portion of the
diamond gravels on the property and are expected to at least double
after the additional geological testing that will accompany the
expansion of the existing mining operation.Sao Luis Mining, Inc.
will market the diamonds from the joint venture. The Company has an
existing distribution network for the production of its properties.
These include buyers in the United States, China, Belgium, Israel,
India, and the Republic of South Africa. Numerous international buyers
have already contacted the Company to purchase the production.

Visit the website at www.icemining.com and see the actual photos of the mineâ€™s operation.